Missry Is NCAA Division One National Finalist
Picture this, it's early in January of 2015. The UCLA recruiting staff is at yet another volleyball tournament looking for potential players when they discover a big, strong kid from, of all places, Holbrook NY. After the match, the recruiters were left with two questions, (1) Who is this kid? and (2) Why isn't he being sought after by more major college programs than what there were?
That kid, was Sachem North High School senior, Dylan Missry.
A couple of months later, after Missry signed his letter of intent to play for UCLA, the coaches felt they received the "steal" of the 2015 recruiting class. A recruiting class (2015) that already had prominent top recruits such as; DeFalco (Long Beach, U.S. Men's National Team), Ma'a (UCLA), Ensing (Long Beach), and Tuaniga (Long Beach).
It's no surprise that UCLA coaches considered Missry a steal. After all it isn't a stretch to say that boys volleyball on the east coast of the United States does not have the popularity, nor receive the attention or school funding that it does in the Mid-West and West Coast, which is why he was able to fly under the radar for so many college programs.
Fast forward to May 2018 and the NCAA Division One National Championship match and there was the "steal", Dylan Missry, playing a major role (along with the top recruits of 2015) in a thrilling 5-set match. While Missry did not get the result he wanted (UCLA lost to Long Beach State in 5 sets), he was a force throughout the entire match. Missry played every minute of all 5 sets and posted very solid numbers; 11 kills (.364 hitting percentage), 6 aces (a match high, a career best, and a NEW NCAA record for most aces in a championship match), and 3 digs.
However, his numbers were only a part of the story as Missry's all around play stood out. Since it was the NCAA's championship match, the game was nationally televised on ESPN. Many times throughout the broadcast the commentators noticed the difference he was making and spoke in glowing terms about Missry's performance, at times calling him "Superb". Not bad for the "steal" from New York.
Academy Coaches DiStefano and Rivera made the trip to Southern California to show support for Missry.
Over the last two years, it has not been very frequent that Missry makes his way back home. However, when he is not in California with UCLA or traveling the world with the U.S. Men's Junior National team, he can be found working out with the Academy boys teams, helping them by pushing the pace of practice and setting a great example for how to train and approach practices.
Missry was coached by current Academy Boys Directors and Coaches, Matthew Rivera and Matthew DiStefano for four years at Sachem North High School. On behalf of Academy Coaches Rivera and DiStefano, please join us in congratulating Dylan Missry on an outstanding season and great performance in the NCAA Championship match.